SHIELA Guo, the sister of fugitive former Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, could qualify to become a state witness against illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), said Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Ty.
Ty, at a budget meeting before the Senate, was asked whether the government could tap Alice’s elder sister as a state witness and said they would still have to determine if she was qualified.
But he added: “Let us not rely on this possibility…. There are many things to consider before she becomes a state witness.”
Shiela Guo, sister of fugitive ex-Bamban Mayor Alice Guo (PHOTO: MIKE ALQUINTO)
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, in a chance interview at the Senate, said he was not convinced Shiela could qualify to become a state witness. “Our problem is the reliability of her narratives. She is not a reliable witness so far,” he said.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked the Department of Justice (DoJ) officials if they pursued investigations of public officials and law enforcement agents who facilitated the escape of the siblings.
The senator cited reports that the Guo family had paid P200 million to some people to help them flee the country amid the investigation of their alleged link to illegal POGOs.
“There was a report that the Guo family paid P200 million just to allow Alice and her siblings to escape,” said Hontiveros during the Senate budget hearing on the proposed P40 billion DoJ 2025 budget.
Shiela testified on Tuesday that she and her siblings Alice and Wesley escaped the country by sea or through the porous backdoor and reached Sabah, Malaysia, in the middle of July. They faced arrest orders from the Senate for refusing to attend the inquiry on illegal POGOs.
“I don’t want to preempt [the ongoing investigation], but she is qualified because she is not the one who masterminded these illegal things,” Ty said in Filipino in a chance interview at the Senate.
“If we were to believe her behavior yesterday, it appeared that she was just dragged [into the scandal]. Let’s wait [and see] what will happen,” he said, referring to Shiela’s testimony on Tuesday during the Senate’s inquiry on their escape.
Shiela Guo, sister of fugitive ex-Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, appears before a hearing presided by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, inside the Philippine Senate in Pasay City, on Aug. 27, 2024. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of fugitive ex-Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, appears before a hearing presided by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, inside the Philippine Senate in Pasay City, on Aug. 27, 2024. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of fugitive ex-Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, appears before a hearing presided by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, inside the Philippine Senate in Pasay City, on Aug. 27, 2024. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of fugitive ex-Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, appears before a hearing presided by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, inside the Philippine Senate in Pasay City, on Aug. 27, 2024. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of fugitive ex-Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, appears before a hearing presided by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, inside the Philippine Senate in Pasay City, on Aug. 27, 2024. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of fugitive ex-Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, appears before a hearing presided by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, inside the Philippine Senate in Pasay City, on Aug. 27, 2024. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of fugitive ex-Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, appears before a hearing presided by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, inside the Philippine Senate in Pasay City, on Aug. 27, 2024. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of fugitive ex-Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, appears before a hearing presided by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, inside the Philippine Senate in Pasay City, on Aug. 27, 2024. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of fugitive ex-Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, appears before a hearing presided by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, inside the Philippine Senate in Pasay City, on Aug. 27, 2024. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
However, Ty said that charges must be filed against Shiela before she qualifies and is admitted into the government’s witness protection program.
As early as July, the Securities and Exchange Commission revoked the registration of Lucky South 99 Outsourcing Inc., now known as Lucky South 99 Corp., for its intention to mislead or deceive the public into believing that it was authorized to act as a POGO. Lucky South 99 Corp. was the POGO linked to Alice Guo and her business partner, Cassandra Ong.
According to the revocation order dated July 30, 2024, the company is registered as a business process outsourcing company per the company’s article of incorporation’s primary purpose that was granted for its certificate of registration in October 2019, with a secondary purpose that the company should not solicit, accept or take investments or placements from the public or issue investment contracts.
“The commission received information that Lucky South 99 Corp. is engaged in activities other than as a business processing office as stated in its primary purpose,” SEC said.
The regulator said their online investigation revealed that Lucky South 99 Outsourcing Inc. is included in the list of Offshore Gaming Licensees of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. dated Aug. 8, 2023.
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